Two new
clinical trials - one treating pancreatic cancer and one treating
Hepatocellular Carcinoma - are planned to open at UNC this fall.

The
first clinical trial is a Phase II/III multi-center, randomized,
controlled study for patients with previously untreated metastatic
pancreatic cancer. This study compares the effectiveness of the
standard agent gemcitabine alone to the combination of gemcitabine
plus ON1910.Na. ON1910.Na is a novel oral agent that targets
multiple activated oncogenes including Polo-like kinase, PI3 kinase
and AKT.

The
second trial is a study of first line therapy for patients with
Hepatocellular Carcinoma. This is a dose-finding and efficacy study
of a novel inhibitor of the cMet growth factor in addition to
standard sorafenib (Nexavar) therapy. UNC is one of four sites
participating in this trial, and is the lead site for the trial.

For more information
on these trials, call the protocol office at 919-966-4432.

Dr.
McRee, an assistant professor of medicine, has joined the
Gastrointestinal Oncology program upon completion of a
hematology/oncology fellowship at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Prior to
her fellowship, she completed a residency at Vanderbilt University
in Nashville, Tennessee.

She
received her medical degree from the University of Texas Health
Science Center in Houston, Texas and her undergraduate degree in
molecular biology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville,
Tennessee.

New Gastrointestinal Oncology Clinical Trials
Available Now

CALGB
80702 is a phase III study for patients with resected
stage III colon cancer. The study is assessing the number of
treatments (6 versus 12) of Adjuvant Folfox Plus Celecoxib or
placebo.

LCCC
1029 is a UNC-led study with sites across the southeast
for patients with KRAS-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer
that has progressed after first-line treatment. This is the
first study with regorafenib, and the first randomized study
of kinase inhibition in combination with chemotherapy to focus
on patients with K-RAS and BRAF genetic mutations whose
options are limited after their disease progresses on initial
treatment.